Kernel Security Check Failure: How to Fix It

This Windows blue screen of death, in case you don’t know, is known as BSoD and now we are going to briefly explain what it tells us.

The BSoD screen and the Kernel Security Check Failure error

BSoD occurs when the well-known blue screen of death appears in Windows, in which suddenly, we get a blue screen and we can no longer do anything. It comes from the acronym in English Blue Screen of Death and is shown when the Microsoft Windows operating system cannot recover from a system error. Here is an example of a BSoD screen when the Kernel Security Check Failure error occurs:

When this happens, it tells us that our PC has a problem and needs to restart. Then it collects information about the failure.

A BSoD screen occurs when the operating system kernel cannot recover from an error, and the only action it can take is to reboot the system. The consequences are usually the loss of all unsaved work, and the status of all programs that are currently in use. Also, although it is not usual in more severe cases, more information could be lost.

Previous steps and correction of the Kernel Security Check Failure error

The solution to the Kernel Security Check Failure in Windows 10, or earlier versions, will depend on whether this error has been caused by hardware or software problems. In that sense, it should be noted that software-related problems are in principle easier to solve than hardware problems.

An important step before making any changes would be to create a system restore point . Thus, if we have a problem we can return to the starting point. To do so we will follow these steps:

• Windows start menu.
• We write Create a restore point and hit enter.

Then a screen like this will appear:

Next, we choose the system unit that is the one that contains Windows and we press the Create button. If we need to go back to a previous point in the future, we will click on System Restore . Also another possibility to consider is to restore a previous point of the system that we are sure that it will not give us problems. If in any of the changes that you make the restart in loop occurs then you will have to start Windows in safe mode.

Check the stability and security of the system

One factor that can cause the fatal blue screen with the Kernel Security Check Failure error may be because we do not have the operating system properly updated . Therefore, one of the first things we will do is go to Start and put Check for updates . Then, we will get a screen like this, if there are updates click on Download and wait for our system to update:

Another cause that can cause system instability is the software tools used to overclock . Wanting to run the CPU, graphics card and RAM above the speed set by the manufacturer can cause these problems. Either by software or by the modification of some BIOS parameter that should also be reviewed in that case. Therefore, the best thing would be to undo that overclock temporarily, and see if this fixes the bugs.

We should also check that our PC or laptop is not infected by malware or other harmful software. The first thing we will do is pass our antivirus completely to our system. The second thing is that if we have anti-malware software out there like Malwarebytes, which has a free version, we could do a scan as well.

In the hypothetical case that we do not have them, we can always resort to Microsoft’s tool for these cases, which is none other than Windows Defender . To use it, we go to Start, Settings , Windows Security , Protection against viruses and threats :

Here what we have to do is a complete Exam :

Review of external hardware devices

In the event that some of your peripheral devices were damaged or were not compatible with Windows 10, our computer could also suffer the Kernel Security Check Failure failure. Therefore, a good idea would be to check if our hardware meets Windows 10 specifications to ensure that everything works well.

The failure may also be due to some of the USB ports on our laptop or PC being in bad condition. One way to find out would be by connecting the devices to different USB ports. If this does not resolve, then unplug everything. Then go starting with the keyboard, adding the mouse and the rest of the devices to see if we find the hardware element that causes the problem.

Solution when the problem is in the drivers or controllers

A frequent case for which the Kernel Security Check Failure error usually appears. It is due to using old or unsupported drivers. Therefore, updating these drivers may solve the problem. To do this we will go to the Windows 10 Start menu and type Device Manager and a screen like the following will appear:

Then, we select one of the different categories, such as “Display adapters”, we choose a hardware component and right click on Uninstall device :

Then we continue with the elimination of the rest of the devices and restart the computer. Then, after the restart, we will see how the drivers for the different hardware elements are automatically reinstalled.

Once this is done, what we will do is check that we have the latest drivers installed. For which also, from the device manager, selecting a hardware element with the right button, we will click on Update driver .

The next thing we have to do is click on Search for automatically updated driver software .

Sometimes this is not enough, as Windows does not automatically have all the newest updates. Also, in that sense, it would be advisable to visit the manufacturer’s website for:

• The motherboard to get the latest chipset, network card and sound drivers.
• Check the AMD, NVIDIA or Intel website for the latest graphics drivers.

Motherboard specifications can also give us clues as to the sound and network audio chips used, and newer drivers are sometimes available.

Troubleshoot problems with Windows hard drive and files

The Kernel Security Check Failure error can be caused by a hard drive failure or file system corruption. If we want to check the hard disk we will follow the following steps:

• Start Menu.
• We write CMD and select it with the right button to run it as administrator.

In command prompt we would execute this command:

chkdsk c: /f

This would be the case, as long as C: is the partition that contains the operating system, which is the majority of the time. These are the results that we would obtain, the only thing to do afterwards is press S to check the hard disk:

On the other hand, if what we want to do is check the system files, then as in the previous case, in a command prompt window with administrator permission we will write this command:

sfc /scannow

These are the results we have obtained:

Here it tells me that it has found bugs and has repaired the files successfully. If everything is fine, it will reply that it has not found any problem with the integrity of the files. Also another command that we can run as an administrator, and allows maintenance and preparation of Windows images is this:

DISM /online /cleanup-image /scanhealth

This would be the command after executing it without encountering problems:

Then, obviously, after executing any of these commands a system reboot is required.

Uninstall programs and check RAM

Another thing you could look at is the installed programs and uninstall the most recent ones. In this case we would go to:

1. Start Menu.
2. Add or remove programs .

Then we will get a screen like this:

Here we choose to sort by installation date, and we uninstall the latest programs to see if the problem is solved and restart. Another thing we can do is check the RAM, for this we are going to:

1. Start Menu.
2. Windows memory diagnostics .
3. Restart now and check for problems .

Also from the beginning we could run the Disk Space Cleanup where we will click on Clean system files and select the drive where Windows is:

Once done, a screen will appear as is and you will delete the files that you do not need and that may be causing you a problem:

As you have seen, you have learned various ways to solve the Kernel Security Check Failure failure.